


The Pillars

by Pen Dumonium (megyal)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Catastrophe, Cultural Differences, F/F, Fantasy, Mythology - Freeform, Privilege, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 07:12:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4295439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megyal/pseuds/Pen%20Dumonium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ancient magical system begins to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pillars

**Author's Note:**

> Written for sinous_curve@LJ, for the [Magitek Round of Smut-Fest](http://smut-fest.livejournal.com/74882.html?format=light)
> 
> Many many thanks to Houkouonchi for the beta!
> 
>  **Other Notes:** The original prompt was _an immigrant experiences a little bit of culture shock when they realize all the myriad ways that magic is put to use in their new home_ ; I deviated from this a little bit; the way power balances can change when the world around characters changes and I wanted to go for that as well. Hope you enjoy!

It was the cold air that woke Deneena, rudely hauling her up from her afternoon nap. That, and the absence of the deep pulse which usually hummed under the narrow streets of Old Bersewald. On the wide low pallet to Deneena's left, Gatnya curled into a tight comma under the thin sheet, shivering slightly. Unlike Deneena, who wore long pantaloons and a full shirt to bed no matter the temperature, Gatnya had chosen to don a very traditional nightdress: gauzy material, the hand-sewn patterns stretching over her plump bosom. Her brown cheek was almost obscured by the long coils of her thick, soft hair. 

Deneena stared at her long black lashes for a few beats, then got up to fetch the thicker bedding out of the closet. It was mostly used when the cold winds swept down from the large mountain range to the west and Deneena hadn't bought enough charms to keep her flat sufficiently warm. Now that she'd married Gatnya, there would be enough income to afford a few more things than usual, even after sending a great chunk of their earnings to their families back home; then, Deneena could order more than enough charms to keep this place toasty. 

The straw mats which covered the wooden floor felt frozen against her bare soles. Cursing under her breath, she closed the closet so that the hinges wouldn't creak too loudly, then tiptoed back to the bed, dragging the thick quilt. On a little shelf jutting out on her side of the bed, her battered silver phone lay nearly at the edge. 

She reached over to shove it over a bit so it wouldn't fall off, and tapped the screen at the same time. It lit up, and then projected a small image above itself. Deneena sighed at the fact that it hadn't managed to power up past three-quarters of its capacity: the charging spell pulled from the same source as the warming charms. Most of the other apps didn't seem to be running either: not the scry-map nor the weather oracle...not even _jargOn_ , a spell for texting, popular for its ability to translate other languages. Of more concern, the stylized icon of eight pillars to the top left of the image was altered. Usually, the pillars would be green, indicating a network signal. All but two were grey.

At least the phone had an internally powered temporal-spell which was quite reliable. It was almost four o'clock; about two more hours remained before they actually had to get up and get ready for work. Deneena deactivated the projection and then threw the worn but comfy bedding over Gatnya. She slid underneath it as well, revelling in the already warm cocoon. Gatnya was plump and petite, fitting neatly against the slim curve of Deneena's body. Deneena was nearly a whole head taller; Gatnya claimed that the fact that Deneena had lived on her own in Bersewald for so long, eating the unusually seasoned food and breathing the thin air, made her as skinny and as tall as the lamp-rods which illuminated the streets.

Gatnya's slow breathing hitched and then quickened. She stirred, wriggling her bottom against Deneena's crotch. Her hair carried a very faint scent of luckflower oil. Deneena inhaled deeply, before carefully pulling the strands to one side and pressing her lips to the curve of Gatnya's neck. That elicited a hoarse little laugh and another wriggle. Deneena felt herself harden and went still.

"I'm sorry," Gatnya said immediately, turning around to face Deneena with a worried expression on her face. Her round face still had creases from being pressed against the pillows, and there was a bit of crust in the corner of one eye. "I didn't mean to--"

"It's fine," Deneena told her, looking at her brown eyes and long lashes. She was very pretty, not that Deneena and her family back in Ocaland had been insistent on physical attractiveness when making up the betrothal contract. Still, when Gatnya had strolled out of the busy doors of the port, her eyes still wide from the experience of a dragoncraft, Deneena had been stunned. With her many braids and stout little frame, Gatnya looked just like the street-artwork of the deity Lady Uoya Penem: the fiercely bright defender against the _Nargumua_ , the embodiments of chaos, the Behemoths of the Shadows. For Ocalanders, Penem was considered divine mother of the world. She'd recognized Deneena and had trotted over, a hesitant smile playing across her full lips. When she'd addressed Deneena in _oyuashizi_ , Deneena had just started grinning and couldn't stop.

It was nice to hear those rounded syllables; it was even nicer to have someone understand what it meant to be a person like Deneena. She was _zier_ , female like Gatnya, just in a different body. However, Deneena had grown up mostly in Bersewald. She had moved here from Ocaland with her mother when she was barely three, and people in the country of Duan Rier had very fixed ideas of gender. Deneena had grown up feeling as if she was wrong in her body, for Rierans had a saying: _a man is a man_. This was why Deneena felt so grateful and happy with her wife. Gatnya could have easily said that Ocalanders did not have to follow the sayings of the Rierans; but she seemed very aware that years of such Rieran-tinged thoughts would have built like a dam in Deneena's mind.

"Well," Gatnya said now, speaking in that soft dialect. "If it's here, we should use it?" She offered one of her slow, inviting grins, even though it was a little nervous at the edges. Gatnya slid her hand between them to press against Deneena's rising hardness. She moved slow; sometimes Deneena was okay with her genitals being touched and sometimes she wasn't. Deneena gave her an encouraging nod and moved back a little to pull off her longshirt. She was already erect, and she actually wanted to do this. Besides, their bonding-contract demanded children at least two years after the ceremony.

As soon as Deneena removed her shirt, Gatnya leaned forward to lick at her flat chest, nibbling the hard little nipples. Deneena pressed forward against her mouth with a little gasp, breathing hard. Gatnya's tongue traced shapes on Deneena's fairer skin, pushing her back against the pillows and straddling Deneena's leaner body. Gatnya shifted up on her knees, licking her way up to the jut of collarbone, the line of neck. She nibbled on Deneena's left earlobe, eliciting a quick laugh and a shudder. Deneena slid her hands up the back of Gatnya's thighs, pulling up her nightdress. Her wife's skin was hot under her palms, her waist a sensuous dip in the mapping of her body.

Deneena hauled the gauzy material over Gatnya's head and tossed it off to one side. She laughed a little as Gatnya kissed her, licking into her mouth eagerly. Deneena rested her hands on her shoulders, pressing her back. Gatnya complied, breathing quickly. Her eyes were dark in the dim light from the high windows and her thick curls fell to just above her breasts. Deneena cupped them, rubbing her thumbs over the large, dark nipples. Her hands were big, but they were filled to overflowing, and Gatnya arched into her touch, biting her bottom lip, eyes half-lidded as she watched Deneena's face.

When Deneena sat forward to suckle on one, Gatnya held her head there, murmuring her wants in _oyuashizi_ : she wanted Deneena's mouth all over her, in her and Deneena panted as she moved from one tit to the other. Gatnya tasted like a hot savoury meal, and Deneena wanted more. 

She moved her hips up, trying to coax Gatnya on her back, but she wouldn't budge for a moment. Her fingers stroked the shorn sides of Deneena's head, fondled the rest of the long, wavy hair caught up with a leather band at the nape her neck. She pressed kisses to Deneena's cheeks and chin, and then laughingly allowed herself to be turned over onto her back. Kneeling between her legs, Deneena hunched over to lick around Gatnya's shallow well of a navel, and Gatnya's soft belly rippled with more laughter. Deneena pressed her lips to the skin beneath Gatnya's belly button, slowly stroking the insides of her thighs.

"Mmm," Gatnya hummed from above and Deneena shuffled down even more, lying flat on her stomach. She inhaled Gatnya's scent deeply, licking the moist slit in front of her face; the short hairs on Gatnya's pussy rasped against her tongue. Deneena moved her hands up, pressing those plump thighs apart even more, and then used her thumbs to pull apart the thick brown lips of Gatnya's pussy, rubbing the pads of her fingers all along the slit. She leaned close to blow across the pink flesh, watching it twitch before diving in. She kissed Gatnya deeply, fluttering her tongue along the warm crevice. Gatnya's hips moved with Deneena's mouth, trying to get her tongue deeper inside. Her musk filled Deneena's senses, and soft moans joined the smacking sounds of Deneena delving into Gatnya's cunt.

"Come up," Gatnya begged, gripping Deneena's shoulders. "Come up, please."

A little reluctantly, Deneena came up. Between the two of them, they pushed Deneena's sleeping pants down her hips, and Gatnya slid her legs around Deneena's waist, pulling her down. The thick head of Deneena's prick pressed against the spit-slick cleft. Gatnya's mouth was open as Deneena sank down into her, until their chests were pressed against together. Deneena thrust; she felt Gatnya's walls grip at her, unwilling to let her go. Gatnya arched and clutched at Deneena's arms.

She parted her lips and moaned, "Wife. Wife, you feel so good, so thick," and Deneena, who had been cringing internally because she was fucking her woman with a cock and only _men_ did that to their women, held still for a moment, just looking down at Gatnya's round face. Gatnya writhed and whimpered.

"Deneena, please," she begged and then stilled as well, blinking. She went up on her elbows, her eyebrows furrowing towards each other. "Oh...do you want to stop?"

In response, Deneena started moving again and Gatnya tipped her head back, a sharp high sound barely managing to escape from the rigid column of her throat. Deneena gripped her hips and nipped at her neck, pressing deeper and deeper into her. They were still mostly under the quilt and now Deneena was sweating and panting, Gatnya's skin slipping against hers.

Deneena felt her nerves tingle at the base of her spine and she panted, "I'm close," into Gatnya's ear. Gatnya turned her head and caught Deneena's mouth in an open, sloppy kiss. Deneena grunted and jerked, gripping Gatnya's arms as she came.

She was shaky as she pulled out of Gatnya, her limp member coated with their mingled fluids; but she slipped back down back to the vee of Gatnya's trembling thighs and went back to licking, even lightly nibbling. She tasted the sharpness of herself floating amongst her wife's heady flavour. Gatnya clutched at Deneena's hair, at her own hair and nearly bucked Deneena right off when she tapped her still protruding clit with the tip of her tongue.

Gatnya came with a quiet sigh and a slight tilt of her hips. She lay there in a sprawled heap as Deneena sat back on her heels. The quilt slid off and they shuddered at the brush of cold air. 

"Pillars are still out," Deneena said softly, smiling down at her. Gatnya sat up and kissed Deneena's chest.

"I can help," she said.

\--

Dressed in warm layers, Deneena watched as Gatnya set up a circle of small devices in the middle of the small space which served as sitting room and dining area. The devices looked like bulky candleholders, with a large bulge about a quarter of its length from the top. They had an arched opening at the base, where actual candles flickered. Small propellers were attached at the tops.

"These parts here, they'll step up the energy from the candles, see?" Gatnya explained, using a trio of handheld tools to attach wires and adjust large screws. "Then the heat will be distributed by the spinning fins. The candles are also the power source for the fins, 'cause they warm the water in the bulbs and create steam, powering the little motors."

Deneena nodded; the room was already warm and all without any sort of charm. This was what Gatnya had done back in Ocaland: she built things that did not require any magic to function. When she had first come to Bersewald, she'd been constantly stunned by the amount of things magic did: the magic from the Pillars ran the power, pumped the water, and maintained the communications network. The transit system, thankfully, was mostly lizard-based. Gatnya now worked in a small shop that built novelty, non-magical dolls; very popular among the elite these days. Nearly all the builders in that shop were engineers from Ocaland.

When Gatnya had first arrived, she'd stared at the Pillars for a long time and then said, "Wife, it looks like a cage."

Now, Gatya got to her feet and wiped her hands with the front of her work-apron. "We'll just blow out the candles when we're leaving."

"Hopefully all the Pillars will be back up soon," Deneena said. Gatnya's expression seemed particularly sombre, and so Deneena touched her hair and kissed her brow. "Let's get ready."

They had to go to the holding tanks on the roof to collect water, since the pump-spells on the mainlines were out. This was one of the reasons Deneena had chosen to rent an apartment in this building; she had grown up in one, and her mother had always said, "You can tell a place that rents to Oknians...always water tanks on top!" A few of their neighbours had braved the chilly evening, and they all nodded at each other as they filled their buckets. Gatnya's contraption took off some of the chill off the water, and they took a quick wash together.

Gatnya had taken an evening shift so that she'd be out at the same time as Deneena and so they walked hand in hand to the nearest station, and clambered on to the bus when it slithered up. The bus rambled down the narrow streets, hissing at people it didn't want to pick up. The lamp-rods were very dim and Deneena frowned at the worried conversations from the other passengers, night-shift workers who were mostly non-Bersewaldie. 

The city of Bersewald was built in a massive depression, and Old Bersewald was at the center of that huge natural bowl. The eight pillars were located just at the boundary of the cramped, older portion: constructs which were so massive that they could be seen from as far as Nolveld, the sister-capital to Bersewald. Tourists came from all over Duan Rier, from the rest of the planet, just to see the ancient Pillars which had outlived their original creators by eons. Deneena had read this news article the other day, about a deep borehole that had been dug next to Pillar Seven, going down thousands of feet...but the pillar extended even more, continuing into the depths of the earth.

Recently, there had been glitches. Nothing to worry about, the politicos of Duan Rier exclaimed. The best mages were working day and night to fix the Pillars. Many residents didn't want to ask how a thing could be fixed if no one knew how to fix it.

Gatnya's stop was first, and she squeezed Deneena's hand before pushing past the other passengers with all her tiny determination, and disappearing into the crowd on Walder Street. Deneena came off on Sutton, which was very close to Pillar Six. She stared up at it; it seemed quiescent, but for all she knew, it was probably one of the two carrying the weight of the other six. Then, she took a deep breath before wading into the furor which was her workplace. Customers were having meltdowns at the lack of functionality on their devices, and most of Deneena's time was spent explaining that it wasn't the phones at all, but the Pillars.

Surprising how most of them seemed to get angry at _her_.

One of them, a Rieran a few inches taller than Deneena, eyed her contemplatively.

"You from Oknia?" she asked. Instead of going through the spiel of _Oknia is a continent. I am from Yuacapan in the state of Ocaland_ , Deneena simply nodded and hoped her smile wasn't too strained. The customer nodded, one side of her lips tilting upwards. Her dark gaze trailed over Deneena's long braid and seemed transfixed for a moment on her thick brows in her narrow face.

"You're a real handsome fellow," she said and Deneena kept smiling. "You must have a whole bunch of wives back home, hmm?"

Deneena wore the thin metal bracelets on her left wrist which indicated both her _zier_ and marital status, but she'd never met a Bersewaldie who cared to read Ocalander symbols. She checked her temper and shrugged.

"You could do well with a Rieran woman," the customer said, and her smile got wider. She moved her hand to touch Deneena's wrist, but Deneena pulled her arm back, out of the way. She reached under the counter and retrieved a folded charm-card.

"We apologize for the lack of service," she intoned, holding it out to the customer. "Please accept this free charm for use with the Pillars come back online."

The Bersewaldie scowled at her, snatched the charm-card and turned on one heel to storm out. She stumbled, just like everyone else, as the stone floor beneath their feet heaved. Deneena tried to hold onto the ledge of the counter, but she lost her balance and fell heavily, jarring her left hip. The floor lurched and rocked, and the wall closest to Deneena crumbled away; pieces of stone fell onto people and screams streamed through the air.

Deneena coughed, the stone dust tickling the back of her throat. Her hip throbbing in pain, she looked out of the ruined wall, staring up at Pillar Six. It was broken; the top third frittered to chunks which seemed as small as crumbs in comparison to the pillar, but were probably as large as Deneena's living-complex. Those broken parts fell so slowly, but they crashed to the ground with resounding thuds, crushing other structures...and people as well. Their screams were heartrending.

She crawled towards the door on her hands and knees, and yelled as the entire building tilted to one side. Other people crashed into her as they rolled down the inclined floor. Using her long legs, she shoved them out of her way, and began climbing up towards where the door stood nearly directly over her head, fingers and toes finding small nooks in the battered floor. She was fairly fit, but she could hardly draw a proper breath as she hauled herself up through the doorway, holding on to the frame with bloody fingers. 

The road was still up there; at least, part of it was. The other part, on which the building had rested, had collapsed into a jagged fissure which widened by the moment. Deneena helped up another person trying to emerge from the door, her gaze darting along the rift. Pillar Six's opposite was Pillar Five, and the breach split the earth between the two.

Gatnya; she had to find Gatnya, and she spun around in a panic as more shrieks bled into Bersewald's air. Pillar One and Pillar Two had begun to shatter. Old Bersewald was breaking, and Deneena didn't know where to turn.

Her senses were assaulted: a thick pressure in the air weighed against on her skin; the dust from the ruined buildings seemed to clog her nostrils, and her ears were full of a high-pitched buzz. She heard her name being called, but her vision seemed greyed out and she couldn't see properly. The street canted under her feet and she tumbled over, landing on her injured hip with a shout of agony.

"Deneena," someone said, touching her face, brushing away the dust particles. The little hard edges scored her skin. "Deneena. It's me. It's Gatnya."

"Gatnya?" she tried to croak, but no sound came out of her parched throat. She mouthed _how are you here_ , but Gatnya helped her to her feet, and then pushed her gently to sit in an oddly shaped seat, smooth arcs moulded against her back and her legs. A wet cloth folded over the top half of her face, and one of Gatnya's small hands pulled at Deneena's left, folding her fingers around what felt like a metal stave.

"Wipe your eyes, Deneena," Gatnya called, her voice moving away slightly. Deneena felt her sit down just in front. "I have to fly this thing, so hang on."

 _Fly_?! Deneena scrubbed at her face with the damp rag. She tightened her grip on the metal pole as the seat shuddered and a heavy _clack-clack-clack_ nearly drowned the cries of the people trapped in the collapsing city. A powerful wind ripped at her hair and threatened to steal the rag from her hand. After a few moments of wiping at her eyelids, she cracked them open; now, she could see properly. 

She was high up in the air, sitting in some metal contraption so close to Gatnya that the smaller woman was actually right between her legs. About six propellers were fixed all along the frame, spinning furiously. To their right and left, Deneena could see about ten other flying machines maneuvering through the smoke and dust. The other pilots appeared to be all Ocalanders or at least from other states in Oknia, but she couldn't be too sure. 

They passed close to Pillar Four, and a shard as tall as their apartment complex splintered off the side. Deneena could see smoke bleeding from the fractures in the depths of the pillars...so thick and dark, like roiling shadows.

"Gatnya," she rasped, her head spinning. Her palm felt slippery against the metal beam. "Gatnya...did you know this was going to happen?

A low, hard sound blared up from the depths of Old Bersewald and to Deneena, it sounded like the roar of a large beast. They flew for a long moment, rushing over into the newer portions of the city before Gatnya answered.

"I... we didn't know, really. But if something is standing for so long, and doing so much work, the machine is going to break down, right? Eventually, it _has_ to break down. And you know engineers from Ocaland: always prepared."

Deneena pressed her thighs against Gatnya's sides. She wanted to lean forward and rest her forehead against the back of Gatnya's neck, but she didn't dare to move. "But it's magic. The Pillars are _magic_ , Gatnya."

"The Pillars are machines we don't yet understand," Gatnya insisted. "Every machine needs some kind of power system...an engine."

Deneena's head throbbed. The Pillars continued to disintegrate, the city was being torn to pieces and her wife was talking about machines. 

"And sometimes an engine is an animal. A monster."

Gatnya turned her head to stare at Pillar Three as they sped around it. In the grim greyness of the dusk, she looked more like Penem than ever.

_fin_


End file.
